[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ChromehoundsImage.png]][[caption-width-right:330:Hunt like a pack or die like a dog.]]

''Chrome Hounds'' is a squad-based Massively multiplayer MechaGame for the UsefulNotes/XBox360, developed by Creator/FromSoftware. The game is set in an AlternateHistory version of 2006, on the south shore of the Black Sea- as 3 countries battle it out for control of a region known as Neromius. Of course, [[ItsUpToYou how the war turns out is up to the players]], and thus, the story of the war is [[ResetButton reset every so often]], so that new players can join in.

The game's single player, is more of a tutorial on the role-types, which do come into play in the multiplayer, is about how the "Neromius War" got started. That said, the single-player part of the game is severely lacking in comparison to the excellent multiplayer mode.

Regarding the minimal story the game has: The cold war combined with solar flares caused America to become extremely isolationist, and several wars broke out as a result, leading to the independence of 3 nations within Neromius: Tarakia, which does have America's backing, Morskoj, a nation that broke away from the USSR, and a stereotypical middle-eastern nation- Sal Kar (backed by South-east Asia). (Oh, there's some other groups, too: Rafzakael, a sort of "Mercenaries R Us" business the player works for, and a mysterious organization on level of the Knights Templar, called Cerberus. But they don't matter that much, [[spoiler: outside of the fact that they're responsible for starting the Neromius war.]]) Also- these wars lead to the development of a new type of tank: the Advanced Combat Vehicle or [=ACV=], which could interchange weaponry parts based on a standard hexagonal frame. This in turn lead to the development of the titular weapon, the Hound, an advanced [=ACV=] that could interchange all of its parts. With this, mercenaries took to the field in the Hounds, and soon began a series of events that lead to war...

[[WildMassGuessing Oh, this game may be a prequel]] to ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore.''

The game's servers were shut down January 6th 2010, with a sequel being unlikely. Luckily, a FanSequel of sorts is in active development for the PC - [[http://www.bombdogstudios.com/ Modular Assault Vehicle]]

----!!This game gives examples of:* AlternateHistory: The game is set in 2006, with the USSR still in existence, but fractured along ethnic lines, the US out of touch with mostly everyone, and most importantly: HumongousMecha being deployed in warzones. * AMechByAnyOtherName: Hounds.* ArtMajorPhysics: The most obvious liberty that the game designers took was omitting the effect of height on a Hound's center of balance. Because of this, even basic designs tend to be absurdly top heavy. Competitive players arrange their guns in tall and narrow stacks to make them harder to hit. Recoil from hits also seems to be absent no matter how large a caliber the shots are. A Hound that gets destroyed by a single absurd volley simply explodes in an upright position.* AwesomeButImpractical: The Morskoj Unidentified Weapon, the [=MSK-X0=], which is GIANT HOWITZER that fires shells that are larger than people, while still incredibly tough, never seems to be able to fire at hounds (with the main gun, anyways), because the cannon can't rotate.* BattleshipRaid: When one of the nations is suffering online, but manages to retake a foothold, they'll deploy an "Unidentified Weapon", and the other nation's players will be able to commence one of these type missions against it.* BoomHeadshot: Snipers.* BreakableWeapons: Every part. And when it's broken shooting it makes the damage that would be done, done to the cockpit instead.%% * CompetitiveBalance: The Role-Types: [[JackOfAllStats Soldiers]], [[FragileSpeedster Scouts]], [[GlassCannon Snipers]], [[MightyGlacier Defenders]], [[MightyGlacier Heavy]] [[GlassCannon Gunners]], and [[MissionControl Commanders]].* DifficultButAwesome: The ''lances''. In the realm of multiplayer where most players followed a strict tower-stacked design with a cockpit obstructed by an armor plate, they were nearly impossible to use effectively, as they required the player to be at close range (good luck) and, even if a player managed to get close enough, a direct hit to the cockpit was necessary to even make such a suicidal endeavor worth it. But, nevertheless, some Hound designs and their players employed lances ''very'' effectively.* DownerEnding:[[spoiler: Despite defeating your traitorous commander and destroying Cerberus forever, what little peace in Neroimus dissolves and all three nations go to war. Cue the multiplayer mode.]]* EliteTweak* EnemyMine: Given Squads and players alike can switch sides every now and then, the country you were fighting for could be your enemy in your next deployment.* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player Character is one.* ForWantOfANail: Solar Flares disrupting global communication lead to HumongousMecha.* KillItWithFire: Some howitzers are equipped with incendiaries, good for causing lots of damage to those Stick Mechs.* HumongousMecha: [=ACVs=] and Hounds. Even bigger: Ghalib, Sal Kar's Unidentified Weapon.* MacrossMissileMassacre: The unguided Rocketlaunchers, which fire in an arc to saturate an area with HE rockets. They fire six at a time with a slight dispersion and high rate of fire...mounting 4 of these spams rockets everywhere. They are probably THE strongest close combat weapon, as the damage output is very high and the enemies Cockpit goes massively off target.* MilitaryMashUpMachine: The Hounds themselves, and a true example of the Land Battleship type: Tarakia's Unidentified weapon: the M-99 Super Patriot.* MissionControl: The entire point of the Commander Role-Type is to be this to the rest of his/her squad.* MoreDakka: Machine guns and more Machine guns.** You can actually mount 4 normal Machine guns and supplement them with Gatling guns that weight next to nothing and fire in a 120 Round burst, even when you switch weapons. So you could potentionally fire up to 8 Machine guns at the same target, at the same time.* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Alexei on the Scout Campaign-- he knows countless Sal Kari will suffer and die because he blew up their water treatment plant, but he did so to protect Morskoj.* OhCrap: Any new squad's reaction to "Unidentified Weapon Appears" and watching the intro of said Unidentified Weapon.* RealRobot: Gives Patlabour a good run for its money on how real. The mecha even have ''fuel gauges''. though they don't really have that great an effect on gameplay unless you [[strike:take a ''really'' long time]] play command-centre games, though.* TheRemnant: The player could actually become a remnant soldier in the online mode of the game. If your nation was the first to be taken over, you could then elect to either join one of the remaining two nations or strike out on your own, fighting against both in hopes of liberating the conquered third.* SchematizedProp Like its cousin, VideoGame/ArmoredCore, ''every'' part.* SpiritualSuccessor: VideoGame/ArmoredCore 5 is this with some gameplay of VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos thrown in. ----